About

Our cottage at the edge of our woods

People often ask why I moved from Manhattan to Maine. Simply put, I wanted a change!

After living in subsidized housing while attending a private school on the Upper East Side for middle and high school with the aid of a scholarship from 1978 through 1985 (and many crazy nights spent in Greenwich Village and night clubs including Studio 54), I attended Bennington College in Vermont for one year, also via scholarship. I loved Vermont and the academics, but I really wanted to be in a more economically diverse setting in New England since being the “scholarship kid” among the wealthy elite had its challenges. I transferred to the University of Maine in Orono where I earned my B.A. in English. I went on to earn an M.S. in Counselor Education at The University of Vermont in Burlington where I was awarded a department assistantship and lived in a tiny house in the woods. I later returned to Maine in 2000 where I’ve since remained. New England’s serene surroundings and gentle opportunities for connecting with the natural world keep me grounded.

Home Life

I and my husband Wayne, whom I married in September 2018, live on two acres in a mid-century cottage at the edge of our woods in Scarborough, Maine.

I work from home and enjoy old-fashioned homemaking and cooking from scratch, oftentimes making dishes inspired by vintage recipes.

We live only five minutes from some of Maine’s most beautiful sandy beaches.

Our house, built in 1950, has had few updates since that time. We do not have a dishwasher; I find washing and drying them by hand with vintage linens to be meditative and relaxing. We use old rotary phones, transistor radios and other outdated delights.

I find fulfillment in befriending the chipmunks in my yard, get a thrill from the changing leaves in autumn, appreciate the calm and silence during a gentle snowfall, and enjoy treasure hunting for old books and vintage goodies at estate sales and flea markets.

Wayne, whodesigned and built yachtsfor almost twenty years, tends to our little organic vegetable garden in the summer and does the outside chores in addition to being employed full time on the coastal Maine working waterfront.

Weight Loss

I lost 10% of my weight in 2009 and have kept it off since by “eating retro” which I documented in my book,American Women Didn’t Get Fat in the 1950s. Wayne read my book and began to follow the principals presented in it. He and I also eat wholesome home cooked meals, eating out only on occasion. As you can see, he experienced quite a transformation!

Sober, Spiritual Living

I’m in long-term sobriety from alcohol (1994) and I’ve lived with chronic PTSD as the result of being the victim of numerous crimes, traumas and sexual abuse as a child. The PTSD mostly manifests in the form of disrupted sleep, nightmares and distressing memories. I somehow managed on five hours of broken, tormented sleep a night for decades; I was still able to function during the day, often working long hours which helped me avoid sleep. In my mid forties, however, it all began to catch up with me. I was exhausted on a very deep level, and tired of being afraid to go to sleep. Although I had been in long-term medication-free (there is no pill for nightmares) cognitive-behavioral and rational-emotive-behavioral therapy to work on my past traumas, my nightmares stubbornly remained. I felt like it was a dark secret I had to keep from others, as if it was a sign of weakness. I felt ashamed, too, since I, someone with an advanced education and clinical training in mental health, couldn’t make the nightmares go away.

I have since left that undeserved shame behind and began a spiritual journey in mental wellness that is more formidable and comforting than anything I could have imagined! Refreshing sleep free of nightmares is now something I experience more often than not. I feel called to periodicallyshare my storiesof healing and pray that my honest offering of my experiences will offer hope for those who are struggling.

Simple Living New England Est. April 2017

I'm Averyl. I grew up in NYC and moved from Manhattan to New England for college and grad school in 1985, then decided to stay! My husband Wayne and I (married September 2018) live in a mid-century cottage at the edge of our woods that's minutes from Portland, Maine and the sea. I enjoy blogging about nature, vintage treasures, spirituality, old-fashioned cooking, Yankee thrift and homemaking.Search for: